Coach learning the ropes

by Anthony Castrovince
Staff Writer

Two weeks on the job, and Ohio men's basketball coach Tim O'Shea was still not sure how to use his office phone.

He sat at his desk last week as Brenda White, his benevolent secretary, explained the complicated set of digits utilized to make a long-distance call from his newly inhabited place of business.

She told him he can customize his phone password whenever he finds the time, but it is obvious that occasion might be a long while away.

Since his March 29 hiring, O'Shea has been bombarded with the tasks associated with his metamorphosis from Big East assistant coach in urban Boston to Mid-American Conference head coach in rural Athens.

The change goes beyond jumping on the first available chartered plane, setting up shop in The Convo, hiring an assistant coach and shaking hands with the 13 men who will now call him boss. Factor in a wife used to big-city life, a two-year-old daughter and a community still in shock about the firing of his predecessor, and the drama involved surrounding O'Shea's shift comes to fruition.

And so here is Ohio's new head honcho, struggling to get an outside line. It is the least of his worries.

He inherited a partial schedule for the 2001-2002 season and must fill three of its games, he has yet to name a second assistant coach and he still has a scholarship to grant - most likely to a point guard.

"It's been a bit of a whirlwind," O'Shea said.

The whirlwind has been circling the halls of The Convo since March 15, when Larry Hunter was removed from the head coaching position after 12 seasons and 204 victories at the helm. Public outcry was unmistakably against the decision, but O'Shea said the community has supported him.

"I'm undefeated right now, so everybody's upbeat," he said. "We inherited a similar situation in Boston College when we came in after Jim O'Brien. What generally happens in those situations is people basically support the university. It's never one player or one coach; it's the institution."

O'Shea's first order of business was to retain assistant coach John Rhodes - a move which maintains continuity within the program and has benefited O'Shea as well.

"(Rhodes has) made the transition a lot easier, because he knows everybody," O'Shea said. "He's like the man when he walks around town. So far, he's my best recruit."

Rhodes, a former center at Ohio, is a tall, imposing, vociferous individual, but when asked about O'Shea's decision to keep him on the staff, he is remarkably humble. He said he is ecstatic about the opportunity to work with his new boss and the new system.

"(When O'Shea offered the job), I was speechless," Rhodes said. "Usually, I'm a man of a lot of words - not always choice words, but I always have something to say about something. I was flattered more than anything. I've been blessed."

With blessings and good fortune taken into account, the actual coaching process must begin. O'Shea ran through his first workouts with the team last week and took the Bobcats by surprise, forward Sonny Johnson, a transfer from Cleveland State who will join the team next winter, said.

"It was the worst practice I've ever had," Johnson said. "It was the best practice, but the worst conditioning-wise for me and my teammates. We've never really done that in practice."

O'Shea is bringing the run-and-gun style of the Big East with him to the MAC, and the team is quickly learning what kind of effort comes with this tempo.

"I think what they've found is that if you're going to be a running team, you have to be in shape to run," O'Shea said. "I was a little surprised, and I think they were a little embarrassed by their lack of conditioning."

While his team had a shoot-around on The Convo floor, O'Shea sat in his office last week and prepared for this week - the final one for recruiting. Zach Kiekow, a point guard from Osseo High School in Minnesota, is making his official visit to campus today, and O'Shea was in Boston last weekend to look at potential recruits.

Meanwhile, assistant coaches from across the nation, including former Rhode Island assistant Tom Garrick, have visited Athens, getting a feel for the program as potential O'Shea aides.

And in those few moments between contacting Maryland about a potential game for next season, setting up a bank account, selling his home in Boston and preparing for the move into his Athens home in June, O'Shea returns to his temporary residence - the Ohio University Inn - and calls his wife, Beth, and daughter, Madeleine, who live in Boston for the time being.

Luckily for the fatigued coach, there is no password necessary.